Middle Eastern Cooking and Flavors and Recipies

Great value is attached to cooking in the Middle East. In that world of strong family ties, large clans and women at home, hospitality gregariousness are deeply entrenched; offering food is the central act in the highly developed art of pleasing.
The cooking is different in every town, every village and indeed in every family: There are rural foods and urban ones, foods which belong to the desert, others which belong to the mountain, the plain or the seacoast, nomadic foods and street foods. Middle Eastern cooking outside the Middle East shows its own variations, too. But there are nonetheless many general characteristics which all these foods, and all the countries, share.


It is a very sensual kind of cooking, using herbs, spices and aromatics generously. Certain methods, like skewer cooking over charcoal or long, slow simmering in unglazed covered pots, are typical of the whole region. All the countries have rice and wheat dishes, stuffed vegetables, pies wrapped in paper-thin pastry, meatballs, thick omelettes, cold vegetables cooked in oil, scented rice puddings, nut-filled pastries, fritters soaked in syrup and many other common elements. You find raisins with pine nuts everywhere, garnishes of chopped pistachios and almonds, and the same food combinations, such as chickpeas with spinach.


It is a shared history, including that of two great world empires, which has brought unity to the kitchens of the Middle East. The spread of Islam and the establishment of an enormous Islamic state stretching across Asia, North Africa and the Mediterranean was the most important factor in the development of a gastronomic tradition comparable to that of France and China.


As the state grew, the Arabs brought to each new region their own tastes as well as those of the countries they had already conquered. Styles of cooking traveled within this vast area with the massive migrations of people; large-scale transport brought into the cities, and even into distant parts of the empire, local produce such as truffles from the desert, olive oil from Syria, dates from Iraq and coffee from Arabia. Crops such as rice, sugar, eggplants (aubergines) and spinach, originally from outside the state, spread throughout it.


The Abassid period, from the ninth to the 12th century, when Islam was the most powerful influence in the world and Baghdad was the political and cultural hub of the state, saw great marriages of cooking styles and great refinements in eating habits. A prosperous cosmopolitan ruling elite had emerged whose members led a life of luxury. Everyone - poet, astronomer physician and prince - took an interest in gastronomy and dietetics. Writings on food were abundant and popular. The taste for spiced foods and sweet things appeared then: Before that, spices had been only merchandise. Aromatics were used in tiny quantities but in great number and in a variety of combinations. Cooking was transformed into an art which reached magnificent heights.


The banquets at the courts of the caliphs of Baghdad were proverbial for their lavishness. A court cuisine had developed which made use of expensive ingredients and elaborate and sophisticated techniques, and in which visual appeal was extremely important. It amalgamated the peasant dishes of the area and the Bedouin foods of the desert with those of Syria Damascus had been the capital of the empire before Baghdad - and, especially of Persia.


The enormous Ottoman Empire, which expanded right into the heart of Europe from the 14th century and into the 20th produced a new court cuisine in its turn. The sultans' courts became notorious for their luxury and their devotion to the pleasures of the table. The imperial kitchens catered for some 4,000 or 5,000 people on the days the Divan (cabinet) met, and for up to 10,000 on special occasions such as the reception of a foreign ambassador. An army of cooks was required and that, in turn, required codification: Strict rules were adopted so that chefs could more, easily train apprentices, and these rules formed the basis of a classic Ottoman cuisine.


In the early days of the Ottomans, all the palace cooks were slaves who had been captured, bought or given as gifts by Venetian traders. A cooking school was established for their children. The position of cook was important, even glorious., and it meant that, by ingratiating themselves with their noble employers or even the sultan, individual cooks could rise to become part of the ruling class. Köprülü Mehmet Paşa, the Ottoman Empire's most powerful vizier, began his career as a cook.


The first Turkish-born cooks employed in Topkapı Palace were recruited as camp cooks in the mountain region of Bolu, in northwestern Anatolia, where the sultans went hunting. It became the tradition that every boy of Bolu left at the age of 13 to work in the palace kitchen or in the houses of the nobles in Istanbul.


The type of cooking that was passed on grew out of an amalgam of traditions borrowed from the empire's conquered territories. The tastes of Byzantium and of the Arabs predominated, and nomadic Turkish foods combined with Chinese and Mongolian ones passed on through Turkestan. The result was the sophisticated cuisine that spread from the Danube to the tip of the Arabian Peninsula, from the Balkans to the shores of North Africa and to parts of what is now the USSR - often by means of the battalions of cooks that marched with the Ottoman armies.


The cooking of the Middle East can be broadly divided into four main general styles: Arab, Iranian, North African and Turkish.


Iranian cooking, based on rice, is the most complex and the least known. Arab cooking is highly developed in Syria, where Aleppo is considered the great gastronomic city, and in Lebanon - one of only two Middle Eastern countries to have developed a restaurant tradition. (The other is Turkey.) It is Lebanon, with her emigrant cooks and restaurateurs, which has brought the grilled meats and mazzah of the Arab restaurant menu to the attention of the world. This menu evolved 70 years ago in the region of Zahlah, in the open-air cafés along the cascading river Bardawni. The cafés, which filled the valley, vied to attract customers with an ever varied selection of appetizers, which were in fact the local village foods.


Moroccan food is the richest and most varied of North Africa, and that which has not bean influenced at all by France. It illustrates the kind of kaleidoscopic diversity that exists in the Middle East. The national dish, kuskus (couscous), is of Berber origin. Many other dishes were brought by the Arabs in waves of invasions which started in the seventh century; they have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages. Still other dishes have their origin in Spain and bear witness to the long Muslim domination of that country. The food of Marakesh is Berber with an African element, while the bourgeois cooking of Fez, the dominant cuisine, is more Andalusian, as is that of Tetouan. And on the Atlantic side of the country certain strategic locations reveal the Portuguese incursions of the 15th and 16th centuries. Food in the mountain regions is predominantly Berber, while the desert has the usual food of the nomadic Arab tribesmen, based on dates. There is hardly any Ottoman influence except in Tetouan, where there was an exchange of cooks when the Ottoman army stopped.


Turkey There is great regional diversity in Turkey, but the classic cooking we know abroad belongs to Istanbul. Despite the diversity, restaurants all over modern Turkey offer the same menu of meat and appetizers because professional cooks, who still mostly come from the region of Bolu, cook the same dishes in the same way. It is called saray (palace) cooking. The food trade is highly specialized, and its division into guilds is a legacy of the rigid hierarchy and elaborate organization of the imperial Ottoman kitchens, where butchers, grocers, icemen, collectors of herbs, soup-makers, confectioners and bakers were all organized into separate corps with their own quarters and sometimes even their own mosques.


Finally, each of these general kinds of Middle Eastern cooking is cut across by other divisions. The cities of Iraq, for example, each exhibit the effects of different culinary influences - Iranian in one, Turkish in another, Syrian and Indian in a third and fourth. In another example, while the cooking of Istanbul is like that of Cairo and Jerusalem - they were also major Ottoman centers in their day - it is different from that of other Turkish cities whose imperial role was less important.


All these currents and connections have to do with the centers of power and the network of influence of the historical Middle East. Today, picking up a fork is as much a historical act - and as potentially illuminating - as picking up a spade at a Middle Eastern archeological site.


The Flavors of Arabia
The Arabian Peninsula has been closely linked with spices throughout its history. Spices were appreciated everywhere in the Middle East for their fragrances and their medicinal properties, as well as for their enhancement of flavor in food. Herodotus, "the father of history," wrote in the fifth century BC of the spices of Arabia that "the whole country is scented with them, and exhales an odor marvelously sweet." For centuries the Roman Empire, with its insatiable demand for Eastern spices, kept caravans crisscrossing the Peninsula, bringing such important spices as pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, spikenard, nutmeg and cloves to the West. Muhammad himself, as a young man before the Koran was revealed to him, accompanied caravans across the Peninsula to Syria, carrying goods which very likely included spices. After Islam was established believers came to Makkah from all over the world to make the Hajj, or pilgrimage, and enriched the Peninsula with an enormously varied culinary acquaintance. Arabian cooks developed a mastery of flavoring, using a multitude of spices in each dish to create a taste which is rich and subtle, never overpowering but magnificently enhancing the food.


In many other regions of the world where the climate is hot, the food is, too. In southern India, Mexico, and parts of Africa, for example, many dishes are served that will literally scorch your tongue if you're not used to them, and make beads of perspiration stand out on your forehead. Perspiration has a cooling effect on the body, of course, and it is generally accepted that this is the purpose of such spicing. In contrast, spicing in Arabian cuisine is not extremely pungent. Although there are, as everywhere, individuals who enjoy a good hot red pepper, or a large dose of ginger, mustard or onion, the flavoring in Arabia is tasty enough to awaken an appetite in the heat, but not so hot as to induce a loss of the moisture so essential to life in an arid or desert land.


Certainly, in most cities of the Peninsula there are sophisticated supermarkets where you can find spices sold in rows of uniform bottles containing colored powders. But it is more common - and more fun - to buy the spices whole in some tiny, fragrant shop or stall in a suq. These whole spices are interesting in that they reveal, to a certain extent, which part of the plant has yielded the spice, whether bark or berry, seed or sap. More importantly for flavor, they will be stronger and more aromatic since the volatile essential oils are lost much more rapidly after the spices have been ground. The spice seller will often grind your spices for you on the spot, if you prefer, or he may offer to sell you a pre-ground mixture which he will assure you is excellent for specific dishes, such as a rice pilaf or a vegetable stew, but whose ingredients remain his secret.

Dates have always been an important food in the Peninsula, where several varieties are cultivated in ancient groves in the large oases; dates are a common condiment at any meal and with coffee. Various nuts - almonds, walnuts, pistachios, hazelnuts and pine nuts - all of which grow in regions of the Middle East, lend texture as well as flavor to Arabian foods. Familiar spices and herbs like cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, hot red and green peppers (Capsicum spp.) and allspice, ginger, mint, parsley, bay leaves, basil, dill, rosemary, garlic and onions all are used frequently. A few others which are becoming more commonly known in the West are popular as well, such as cumin, caraway and coriander - both the tan, spherical seeds of the coriander plant and its parsley-like fringed green leaves, known in the West as cilantro. But beyond those there are still other spices and condiments important to the flavor of Arabia that are relatively unknown in the West today.
Sesame seeds, the pale, small seeds of a tall herb grown in many parts of the Middle East, are extremely important to the cuisine of the region. The seeds are pressed to extract a high-quality oil; lightly toasted, they add their nutty flavor to a large number of breads and pastries, or provide a tasty coating for sweet Medina dates stuffed with almonds. Tahinah, a paste made from sesame, is mixed with mashed chick-peas, garlic and lemon juice to make the beloved dip hummus. Sesame seeds mixed with honey are a nutritious, sweet snack. Perhaps Ali Baba commanded the cave to "Open, sesame!" because the seed pods of this plant (except for modern commercial varieties) burst open suddenly and forcefully when the seeds are ripe, scattering them widely.
Cardamom is an essential ingredient in that ubiquitous symbol of Arab hospitality, coffee. In the Arabian Peninsula, coffee is usually a straw-colored brew, made from lightly roasted beans, lavishly perfumed and flavored with crushed, large green cardamom pods, and served unsweetened in miniature handleless cups in a stream of generosity that ends only when the guest's thirst is unquestionably satisfied. As it is one of the world's most expensive spices, cardamom's generous use is intended as an honor. In addition, coffee brewed from dark-roasted beans, and usually prepared with sugar, is drunk occasionally. That brew is sometimes spiced with a little ground cardamom seed as well. Cardamom is by no means limited to coffee; its pleasant, camphor-like flavor combines well with any food or beverage, hot or cold. (I challenge you to find an exception.) The seed pods, slightly crushed, are a standard spice in the traditional Arabian dish kabsah, a lamb-and-rice stew, and it is a common ingredient in fruit desserts.
Dried limes lend a bright tang to stews, some varieties of kabsah, and fish dishes The limes may be used whole and fished out of the dish before serving, or pounded to a fine powder. To make your own dried limes, boil the small round variety of lime vigorously for a few minutes, then dry them in a sunny or otherwise dry and warm place for several weeks until they turn brown and feel hollow.
Mahlab, the aromatic kernel of a kind of cherry with a black fruit, that gives that distinctive flavor and scent to the sweet braided yeast bread popular all over the Middle East. The droplet-shaped kernels are ground into a powder and used in this and other breads and pastries. In addition to providing "the bread spice," this versatile tree has several other uses: Its fragrant oil is used in making perfumes, its hard, heavy wood is valued in turnery, and the tree itself provides grafting stock for cherry growers in southern Europe and western Asia.
Mastic, the resin exuded from the bark of a small evergreen shrub closely related" to the pistachio tree, is best known in the West today for its use in such products as varnish and paint, but cooks in Arabia continue their centuries-old custom of enjoying its unique fresh, resinous aroma and flavor in meat soups and stews and in puddings. Mastic melts into the food rather than dissolving, so it is best to pulverize the translucent light-yellow lumps before adding them. Mastic is one of the many ingredients used in the popular shawurma, that elaborate construction of marinated meat, fat and flavors which rotates on a vertical spit placed close to a fire.
Nutmeg is the seed of a large evergreen; tree native to the Spice Islands (the Moluccas) of what is now Indonesia. The fleshy yellow, peach-like fruit of this tree splits open when ripe, revealing the nutmeg encased in a dark-brown shell, which is in turn wrapped in a bright red net, or aril; this aril is the spice mace. Nutmeg has long been in popular use in the Middle East, as in the rest of the world, both as a flavoring and a medicine; however, its medicinal properties have caused it to be classified officially as a drug and it is therefore banned in Saudi Arabia today. Very large quantities of nutmeg can produce hallucinations followed by ferocious headaches, and an overdose can be lethal.
Rosewater and orange-blossom water lend their sweet perfumes to a wide variety of foods, notably puddings and pastries but also to some fruit drinks and salads. They may be used separately or together, depending on the dish and the taste of the cook. The essences are distilled from the petals of the flowers with water, a process developed by the Arabs; the flower waters on sale today are usually a dilution of this product. Rosewater is one of the earliest distilled products ever made, and its manufacture has been an important industry in the Middle East for about 1,200 years. Rosewater and orange-blossom water are added to food simply for the pleasure their fragrance gives, rather than for flavor.
Shaybah, also known as "old man's beard," is a tree lichen found in the Arabian Peninsula whose complex bitter, metallic flavor is popular in meat and vegetable stews. A small piece of curly black-and-silver lichen will flavor a large potful.
Saffron is commonly used in the more elegant rice dishes, both savory and sweet, as much for its beautiful yellow color as for its unmistakable earthy taste. Chicken and fish are also often flavored with saffron. This spice, the world's most expensive, is made up of the stigmas of an autumn-flowering crocus native to the Middle East. The stigmas and parts of their styles are dried to brittle red threads which, when ground, yield a yellow powder. Each flower has only three tiny stigmas, and something like 80,000 flowers are needed to produce a pound of spice. Most of the saffron in trade today comes from Spain, where it was introduced by the Arabs in the eighth or ninth century.
Sumac Powdered dark-red sumac berries provide a pleasant lemony spice which tastes especially good on meats such as shish kebabs. Although it is produced by a small Mediterranean/Persian tree related to the poisonous sumac of North America, and it is sometimes used in tanning leather, the agreeable acid of these berries is in no way harmful. Sumac was mentioned nearly 2,000 years ago in the writing of Dioscorides, a Greek physician serving in the Roman army, as having healthful properties; Dioscorides says it was "sprinkled among sauces" and mixed with meat. Modern-day eaters find it excellent on pizza. Sumac is also generally considered an essential ingredient in the spice mixture za'tar,
Tamarind it is a small tropical tree similar in appearance to an acacia. Its name is derived from the Arabic for "Indian date." The pulp of its long brown seed pods yields an extremely viscous syrup with a distinctive sour flavor that is excellent in vegetables, meat and fish dishes. Tamarind syrup makes a delicious and refreshing cold drink, prepared like lemonade with water and sugar. This spice is not so exotic in the West as it may seem at first: Tamarind is an ingredient in Worcestershire sauce.
Baba ghannuj - A dip made of mashed cooked eggplant mixed with lemon juice, garlic and tahinah.
Baklava - A pastry made of many paper-thin sheets of dough (filo) brushed with butter, layered with nuts, and coated with sugar - or honey syrup.
Burghul - Cracked wheat. Made by first boiling, then drying and grinding whole wheat; available either fine - or coarse-ground.
Halal - Prepared according to the requirements of Islam. In the case of meat, the procedure includes invoking the name of God and bleeding the animal.
Hummus - Literally, chickpeas, but usually refers to hummus bi tahinah, a dip made from mashed cooked chickpeas, lemon juice, garlic and tahinah, and eaten with bread and olive oil.
Kabsah - A lamb, chicken or (less commonly) fish stew with rice, tomato and spices.
Kubbah - A mixture of ground lamb, fine burghul and grated onion pounded to a paste and served raw or cooked in a number of ways.
Kunafah - A sweet pastry made with strands of butter-coated dough that look like shredded wheat, filled with ricotta-like cheese or nuts.
Kuskus - Couscous, a steamed semolina dish served with a meat-and-vegetable stew.
Labnah - "Yogurt cheese," or yogurt that has been drained of its whey. Usually eaten with olive oil.
Lahm m'ajun - "Arab pizza," pita bread topped with a thin layer of finely ground meat, onions, tomatoes and seasonings.
Mahshi kusah – Zucchini (courgettes) hollowed out, stuffed with a mixture of fried ground meat, spices and pine nuts, and baked served with tomato sauce.
Manqush - Bread baked with a topping of za'tar mixture and oil. Also called simply za'tar.
Mezzah - Hors d'oeuvre such as stuffed grape leaves, hummus, baba ghannuj, pickled turnips, olives and raw kubbah.
Mulukhiyyah - A dark green leafy plant with a sour, viscous juice, used to make a chicken dish or a soup much loved by most Arabs. The plant is a member of the mallow family.Substitute with spinach and okra
Sambusak - Deep-fried pastry triangles stuffed with spiced ground meat. Familiar throughout the Islamic world under many names and in many variations.
Shish kebab - Cubes of meat grilled on skewers, often separated by bay leaves or pieces of vegetable.
Schwarma - Layers of marinated and ground meat of different kinds, interleaved with fat and flavoring, roasted on a vertical spit.
Tahinah - A paste of crushed sesame seeds, used as the base for sauces and halvah, and as an ingredient of many other dishes.
Water-buffalo milk - This extremely rich and creamy milk is widely used from southern Asia to southern Italy. Diluted with cow's milk, it is used to make butter and ice cream; the heavy cream is used on some pastries.
Za'tar is the Arabic name for the herb thyme, but it also denotes a delicious mixture of two parts thyme, one part sumac, one part sesame seeds and a little salt. (Proportions may vary, and other spices may be added according to each family's taste.) Served with a high-quality olive oil and flat Arab bread, it is a popular breakfast throughout the Middle East. Eaten with labnah or olive oil and bread. See manqush, above.
Zaytun - Olives.
Arabian Recipies from all Arabic countries

Facts about Singapore-Singapore religion is shopping,people watching and eating

Singapore consists only of one main island and 63 other tiny islands. Most of these islands are uninhabited.
Singapore is among the 20 smallest countries in the world, with a total land area of only 682.7 square kilometres. The USA is about 15,000 times bigger.
Apart from Monaco, Singapore is the most densely populated country in the world, with 6,430 people per square kilometre.
There are 22,491 full service restaurants in Signapore and 10,665 fast food restaurants Singapore became the 117th member of the United Nations on 21 September 1965.
Symbolism of the National Flag: Red symbolises universal brotherhood and equality of man while white signifies purity and virtue. The crescent moon represents a young nation on the rise and the five stars signify the ideals of democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality.
The national flower of Singapore, Vanda Miss Joaquim, was first discovered in 1893 by Agnes Joaquim, an Armenian. The orchid is a natural hybrid between V. teres and V. hookeriana.
The Merlion, a half-fish, half-lion beast, is a fitting symbol of Singapore. The "Singa" or lion represents the animal that a Sumatran prince saw which resembled a lion, and the fish is a tribute to Singapore's history as "Temasek", the ancient sea town.
Singlish, a Singaporean patois mixing English with the odd phrase of Chinese, Malay and even Tamil, has two entries - lah and sinseh - in the online version of the Oxford English Dictionary.
Although English is the official working language and the most widely used language in Singapore, the national anthem 'Majulah Singapura' is actually sung in Malay.
The flying fox, the world's largest bat with a wingspan of up to 1.5 metres, can be found on Pulau Ubin, one of the islands off mainland Singapore.
Singapore is a stopover point for thousands of migratory birds travelling the East Asian Flyway.
The world's first night zoo, The Night Safari, is located in Singapore.
Despite being largely urbanised, Singapore is the largest exporter of ornamental fish (25% of the world market).
The Bukit Timah Nature Reserve in Singapore contains more species of trees than the entire North American continent.
The highest natural point in Singapore is Bukit Timah Hill, which is only 164 metres high (Singapore has a very flat terrain).
Buildings in Singapore cannot be higher than 280 metres. There are presently three buildings of that height: OUB Centre, UOB Plaza and Republic Plaza.
The world's highest man-made waterfall, standing at 30 metres, is located at the Jurong BirdPark.
The largest fountain in the world is located in Singapore at Suntec City. Made of cast bronze, it cost an estimated US$6 million to build in 1997.
The buildings of Suntec City have been built in the shape of a palm of a hand symbolising good "feng shui".
80% of cars in Singapore are 4 years or less old.
In 2003, Singapore's Changi Airport won the award for "Best Airport Worldwide" for the 16th consecutive year from the UK/Europe edition of the Business Traveller magazine.
The Guinness book record for the longest human domino chain was set in Singapore on 30th September 2000. Formed by 9,234 students, it measured 4.2km.The world domino topple record (303,621 men) was set in Singapore on 18th August 2003 by a 24-year-old woman from China.The record for the biggest ever game of pass-the-parcel was set in Singapore on 28 February 1998. It involved 3,918 students removing 2,200 wrappers from a 1.5 x 1.5 x 0.5 m parcel.
The record for the most number of people participating in line dancing was set in Singapore in May 2002 with 11,967 dancers.
The Great Singapore Duck Race, an annual event that raises funds for charity, set a new world record in 2002 when more than 123,000 toy ducks took to the Singapore River.
Russell Lee, a pseudonym for a team of ghost-writers, is the hottest-selling local author in Singapore. His 11 volumes of True Singapore Ghost Stories have sold more than 600,000 copies to date.
The fastest selling book of all time in Singapore is Hello Chok Tong, Goodbye Kuan Yew: The Untold Story. Written and drawn by political cartoonist George Nonis, it sold 40,000 copies in two months.
The highest grossing movie of all time in Singapore is Titanic, raking in S$6.65 million in 1997.
The highest grossing locally made movie of all time is Money No Enough, raking in S$6.02 million in 1998.The first Singaporean film to be shown at the Cannes Film Festival was director Eric Khoo's 12 Storeys in 1997.
British pop violinist Vanessa Mae Nicholson was born in Singapore and moved to England when she was four.
More Singaporeans are born in the month of October than any other month of the year.
The first population census taken in 1824 revealed that the total population was 10,683.
The 2000 census showed that the population of Singapore is 4.2 million.
Nearly 9 out of 10 Singaporeans live in public housing flats.
The most common Chinese surnames in Singapore are Tan, Lim and Lee.
Singapore has more than 3,000 kilometres of roads. Stretched end to end, they can cover the distance from Singapore to Hong Kong.
8 in 10 people in Singapore own cell phones. In fact, telecom companies issue new numbers at the rate of 30,000 to 40,000 per month.
Singapore's best showing in the Olympic Games ever was a silver medal won by weightlifter Tan Howe Liang in Rome in 1960.Swimmer Ang Peng Siong was ranked world number one in the 50m Freestyle in 1982.
The Singapore Sling was first served in 1915 at the Long Bar of the Raffles Hotel. The ingredients are gin, Cointreau, cherry brandy, Dom Benedictine, pineapple juice, Grenadine, Angoustura bitters and limes.

Indonesian Food History and recipies

On Aug 29 .2007 I and Samy went to Bintan an Island in Indonesia.The trip took 50 min by hydroplane from Singapore. We stayed at http://www.perfectescapes.com/Luxury_Hotel-PID1250-Bintan_Island_-Bintan_Lagoon_Resort-67901.html
http://www.bintan.net/
http://www.expat.or.id/sponsors/bintanislandresorts.html

Indonesia, the fifth largest country in the world, an archipelago consisting of 18,000 islands, spanning one-eighth of the globe and occupied by 250 ethnic groups. Here tremendous ethnic diversity coupled with wave upon wave of cultural influence adds up to a world of pleasure for the culinary adventurer. Indonesia's indigenous techniques and ingredients merge with influences from India, the Middle East, China and Europe. And then there are the New World products brought by Spanish and Portuguese traders long before the Dutch colonized the islands.
Most restaurants abroad and English-language cookbooks focus on the foods of Java and Sumatra with tastes of tourist-haven Bali. But the cuisines on these islands alone provide us with plenty of opportunity to keep our taste buds happy and our tongues tingling or dancing as the locals say.
Rice is Indonesia's main staple except in Maluku (the Moluccas) and Irian Jaya (Indonesian New Guinea) where sago palm flour, sweet potatoes and cassava reign supreme. As in the rest of Southeast Asia, other dishes are eaten in extremely small quantities. Meat, fish and vegetables are condiments designed to flavor the staple. Sauces such as fiery sambals lend added character. Westerners, accustomed to eating much larger portions of meat and fish, find much of Indonesian food scorchingly hot.
Natural resources include rich volcanic soils and endless coastlines as the islands arc through both the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Although some coastal areas are fished out(my friend Samy and I went fishing off Bintan Island in July 2007 and all we caught was a palm size fish) fresh water possibilities include lakes, rivers, ponds,aquaculture and flooded rice paddies. Not surprisingly, fish and crustaceans, fresh and dried, play a major role in the Indonesian diet.
Flavorings indigenous to the islands establish strong family ties between Indonesian food and that of its Southeast Asian neighbors. Coconut milk, or santen, plays a critical role here as well as in Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, Malaysia, Singapore and parts of Vietnam, Laos and the Philippines. Indonesia shares the flavors of galangal, kaffir lime leaf and pandan with Thailand. Lemon grass and dried shrimp appear in the Philippines and Thailand both. Shrimp paste permeates the flavors of all three and Vietnam as well. Meanwhile delicious fruits and vegetables are common to the entire region.
But Indonesia's culinary ties are closest to those Southeast Asian countries strongly influenced by India. In fact, if there are ancient Buddhist or Hindu sites to be found on a country's soil, you can almost bet its cuisine will include ingredients such as cumin, coriander, ginger, and/or caraway. And you will find curries -- highly spiced sauces often diluted with coconut milk and served with bite-sized bits of meat, fish and vegetables to enliven the blandness of rice.
Arab traders ultimately converted Java from Hinduism to Islam and exercised their culinary influence as well. Kebabs, marinated meat cubes threaded on skewers, were reinterpreted to become satay. Dill and fennel entered the repertoire of spices. Today Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world. Not surprisingly, goat and lamb are important meats, while pork is forbidden. It is eaten only in Hindu Bali and within the Chinese community.
Chinese merchants and traders meanwhile added their own indispensable contributions to the cookpot. Indonesian food would be unrecognizable without the wok, stir-frying, the soybean and noodles which thread their way throughout the cuisine in countless ways. Among their many vegetables, the Chinese brought mustard greens, mung beans, daikon radish and Chinese cabbage.
The Dutch, attracted by the nutmeg and cloves of Maluku, waged wars over the Spice Islands and ultimately colonized the entire archipelago. Colonization caused much suffering, but added the finishing touch when it came to flavors. Chili peppers from Mexico added their unmistakable sting. Peanuts from the Americas provided sauces for satay and gado-gado a sa;ad made from marinated vegetables. Cassava from the Caribbean and sweet potatoes from South America furnished Maluku and Irian Jaya with their staples.
In this exotic world, Dutch colonizers sought the flavors of home. They imported cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, string beans, potatoes and corn, adding to the already vast array of vegetables. They also created an entertainment institution designed to present scores of different dishes at a single sitting. Rijsttafels might contain up to a hundred different dishes. Servants stood behind the chair of each guest ready to provide soothing morsels when necessary to cool a burning palate.
Indonesian cooks adopted new tools, techniques and ingredients and indigenized them -- some of the nearly beyond recognition. Ingenious home cooks used new techniques and forged ingredients unique to Indonesia.
Today soybeans provide not just nutritious beans for cooking on their own, soy sauce, tofu and sprouts, but tempeh, toasted soybean cakes fashionable in Western health food circles. Chinese soy sauce plays a role similar to fish sauce in Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines. But Indonesians enrich it by the addition of sugar, star anise, salam leaf and galangal to become kecap manis or sweet soy sauce, a key ingredient and a dynamite addition to any cook's pantry. (Pronounce that "ketchup." It's the Indonesian origin of the English word.)
Not surprisingly, Indonesia has created a mix of flavors which exerts its own influence abroad. Satay has crept up the Malay Peninsula to become one of Bangkok's favorite street foods. Indonesian food plays a major role in the melange of cuisines found in Singapore. After years of colonial intimacy, the Dutch are avid fans and some of the best Indonesian restaurants abroad can be found in the Netherlands.
Certain ingredients unique to Indonesian cuisine such as kemiri, a thickening agent, and salam leaf may be marketed under English names as candlenut and Indian bay leaf. Pandan leaf is occasionally used in Thai cooking and may be found in stores catering to Thai customers.
Recipies
http://www.indochef.com/
http://asiarecipe.com/indonesia.html
www.baliguide.com/balifood/basic_recipes.html
http://www.hawaii.edu/indolang/masakan.html
http://www.spicecuisine.com/recipes.php
http://indonesian-food-recipes.blogspot.com/
http://fooddownunder.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=indonesian
http://www.trinity.wa.edu.au/plduffyrc/Subjects/languages/indones/indofood.htm
http://www.archaeolink.com/indonesia_cooking_anthropology_o.htm
http://www.indonesia/ ok.com/recipes.htm
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~mjw/recipes/ethnic/indonesian/sambal-balado.html Crunchy Beef
http://www.indo.com/restaurants/recipe.htmlhttp://recipes.wuzzle.org/index.php/62

Grilling Fish Techniques and Recipies

6 tips for turning out moist, tasty fillets
If you have shied away from grilling fish, now is the time to put the fear aside.Here are six great grilling tips for fish:Trust your eyes Fish are done when the flesh becomes opaque but is still moist,Too often, people mistake that moistness for raw wetness, and keep fish on the heat too long. Residual heat will continue cooking fish a minute or two after you remove it from the grill.If you think the fish is ready, cut into it at the thickest point. Salmon will have lost its orange gloss and be pink but moist-looking. Tuna can be cooked rare (dark pink, almost red in the center, with just a seared outside), medium rare (a thick band of pink in the center) or medium (slightly pink). Scrod or other white, flaky fish will be opaque white, slightly moist-looking and flake easily in largish pieces. If overcooked, flesh will be dry and crumbly.
Know your grill
Gas grills provide more even heat, fewer "hot spots."Charcoal grills' heat can be erratic, but experience and observing the cooking process, moving the fish around on the grill to cook evenly, can solve that problem.
Invest in useful gadgets
Grill woks (which have sloping sides) and flat grill plates, both of which are perforated, provide a more stable surface than a regular wire grill. Hinged, or clamshell, grill baskets hold flaky fish firmly and allow it to be turned without danger of the flesh flaking apart.
Baskets hold several rows of shrimp or scallops securely, and allow turning many pieces of fish all at once, with a long, cool handle, rather than one at a time over the hot fire.
Keep it clean
Keep all grilling surfaces scrupulously clean with a wire brush and a grill scraper. Clean grilling surfaces, and spray with non-stick cooking oil before adding fish, to prevent sticking and breaking apart of flesh.
Enhance flavor
Experiment with marinades to boost flavor before grilling. Keep in mind that long marinating of meat will tenderize tough cuts, but you marinate fish only to enhance flavor. If you marinate fish all day in a soy-based marinade, all you will taste is salt. If you let fish sit in a citrus marinade for a couple of hours, you get ceviche. Fish is spongy and absorbs flavors easily."Limit time in soy marinades to one to three hours and citrus marinades to 30 to 45 minutes. Often, all you need to do is brush fish with a flavored oil.
Experiment with flavored butters, mayonnaises, sauces and salsas as a flavor garnish after fish is grilled:Herbed butters are very easy to whip together and last indefinitely in the freezer, to be pulled out at the last minute. Summer fruit salsas require some time to peel and dice but otherwise are easy to concoct.
Know your fish to know how to grill it
Oily fish: bluefish, mackerel. Flesh is dense and takes well to high-heat grilling. But flavor is strong and texture is firm. Citrus marinades work well to offset strong taste and soften texture. Oily fish go off quickly, so freshness is a must.
Firm fish: salmon, tuna, swordfish, mahi-mahi, tilapia. Easiest to grill for the novice, especially tuna steaks because doneness can be controlled by observing change in interior color, much like beef. Skin-on salmon is also good, because the flesh holds together well.Flaky-fleshed fish: cod, scrod, halibut. Best to grill on a grill plate, or in a clamshell basket, which holds flesh together and is easy to flip. Covering grill with foil and poking holes will help make a firmer surface but will reduce the smoky flavor of charcoal reaching the fish.
Shellfish: scallops, shrimp. Both cook quickly. Shrimp changes color as it cooks, indicating doneness, and takes well to marinades and sauces. Scallops should be "dry" scallops, not treated with preservatives such as tripolyphosphates, which leach the sweet taste out and prevents scallops from browning. Dry scallops brown attractively on the grill and are easy to visually judge doneness.
Recipies

Grilled Shrimp Quesadillas
2 teaspoons olive oil2 to 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced3 green onions, finely sliced1 pound medium shrimp, peeled, deveined and tails removedSalt and pepper, to taste4 (10-inch) flour tortillas1 cup roasted tomatoes4 ounces shredded cheeseFresh basil, choppedTo roast tomatoes: Cut out cores, but leave skins on. Cut tomatoes into wedges, coat generously with olive oil and garlic. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning blend, and roast in 400-degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until soft, wrinkled and collapsed-looking. About 8 tomatoes are needed.To make shrimp tortillas: Heat olive oil in skillet and saute garlic and green onions over medium-high heat until softened, 2 or 3 minutes. Set aside. Brush shrimp with olive oil mixture and grill in a grill basket, grill wok or on double skewers until cooked through, about 1 minute each side. Add to the skillet with onion mixture and toss. Add salt and pepper, to taste.Heat tortillas briefly on the grill to soften. Divide the grilled shrimp among the tortillas, top evenly with roasted tomatoes, shredded cheese and chopped basil. Fold in half, pressing edges to seal. Place on hot grill for 2 to 3 minutes to melt cheese and brown the tortillas. Cut each quesadilla into 2 pieces and serve immediately.Makes 8 servings.
Approximate values per serving: 191 calories, 5 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 86 mg cholesterol, 22 g carbohydrates, 15 g protein, 260 mg sodium, 2 g fiber, 24 percent of calories from fat.
Grilled Salmon With Tropical Salsa
Salmon1 side of fresh salmon, 2 1/2 to 3 pounds 1/4 cup olive oil3 cloves garlic, peeled and pressed or very finely minced 1/4 cup maple syrupSalsa1 mango, peeled and cubed1 papaya, peeled and cubed1 red bell pepper, seeds removed and diced1 green bell pepper, seeds removed and dicedJuice of 1 lemon 1/2 cantaloupe, seeds removed and chopped1 ripe tomato, seeds removed and chopped1 small sweet yellow or red onion2 tablespoons Grand Marnier or other fruit liqueur2 tablespoons chopped mint2 tablespoons chopped basil1 pint fresh strawberriesTo make salsa: In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except strawberries. Chill until time to serve. When ready to serve, slice strawberries and add to mixture. To cook the salmon: Brush the grill grate with oil or spray with non-stick cooking spray; heat grill to high.Combine olive oil and garlic. Brush salmon generously with oil and garlic mixture. Place salmon, flesh-side down, directly on the grill. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes and turn. After turning, brush salmon with maple syrup. Continue cooking on skin side until done - time will vary with thickness of fish. Fish is done when flesh is opaque but still moist. Finish salmon with final glaze of maple syrup. Serve garnished with tropical salsa.Makes 6 servings.
Approximate values per serving: 496 calories, 17 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 118 mg cholesterol, 35 g carbohydrates, 47 g protein, 164 mg sodium, 5 g fiber, 31 percent of calories from fat.
Grilled Tuna With Wasabi-Lime Soy Vinaigrette
4 yellowfin tuna steaks, sushi grade4 tablespoons light soy sauceSalt and pepper, to tasteVinaigrette3 tablespoons light soy sauce 1/2 teaspoon wasabi paste or horseradish1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice1 tablespoon mirin (sweet Japanese rice wine) 1/4 cup vegetable oilSalad1 pound baby greens or mesclunBean sprouts or alfalfa sprouts for garnishCover the tuna steaks with soy sauce and let stand until ready to cook, but no longer than 1 hour.Combine vinaigrette ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until combined. Taste, adjust seasonings and set aside. Season tuna steaks with freshly ground pepper and salt.Heat grill to high heat. Cook tuna quickly so the outside browns and the inside remains a reddish-pink - about 1 to 2 minutes per side, depending on thickness of tuna. Transfer tuna to cutting board and slice thinly.Divide the greens among four plates. Arrange sliced tuna in a fan pattern over the greens and drizzle with wasabi-lime vinaigrette. Garnish with sprouts.Makes 4 servings.
Approximate values per serving: 343 calories, 15 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 77 mg cholesterol, 5 g carbohydrates, 43 g protein, 1,128 mg sodium, 1 g fiber, 39 percent of calories from fat.

Malay food history,restaurants and recipies

History
Malay cuisine is an amalgam of traditional dishes from Penisular Malaysia, with strong influences from places like Sumatra and Java. Rice is the staple food, balancing the spicy cuisine of this region. Pork is not used due to religious reasons.
Indgredients
Coconut is an important ingredient. The flesh grated and squeezes to make the coconut milk which is used in gravies as well as cakes, drinks and desserts. The freshly grated coconut is also sprinkled over many cakes. Another vital ingredient is pungent dried shrimp paste (belancan) often combined with pounded fish chillies to make the universally popular sambal belacan. Varying amounts of chillis are used in most Malay food. Fragant herbs like the kaffir lime leaf and lemon grass, shallots and garlic, rhizomes such as ginger and galanagal, and gried spices including coriander and cumin are all skilfully blended.
BELACAN IS ONE OF THE VERY IMPORTANT SEASONINGS OF MALAYSIAN COOKING. THE TINY SHRIMPS ARE FERMENTED WITH SALT IN ADDITION TO ADDING A SUBTLE FLAVOUR TO CURRY OR OTHER MEAT, FISH OR VEGETABLE COMBINATIONS, THE USE OF FERMENTED SHRIMP OR ANCHOVY PASTE OR ESSENCE HAS A COMMON THEME IN SOUTHEAST ASIA. THE BURMESE, THAI AND VIETNAMESE USE A LIQUID FISH SAUCE, CALLED VARIOUSLY, NAMPYAYE OR NAM PLA. THE INDONESIAN USE TRASSI, A SPINOFF OF THE SAME
THING WITH A TOOTHPASTE CONSISTENCY AND THE MALAYSIAN PREFER BELACAN, BELACAN CONTAINS CONSIDERABLE PROTEIN.

Food
Satay is the best known Malay dish- skewers of succulent pieces of seasoned mutton, beef or chicken, cooked over a charcoal flame. They are often eated with Satay sauce ( rich coconut sauce thick with ground peanuts sliced cucumber), sliced cucumber and onions and chunks of compressed rice.
Many Malay food outlets offer Nasi Padang, a range of spicy meat, fish, poultry and vegetable dishes which originated in the padang district of West Sumatra. Another local Malay favourite, based on a Javanese dish, is Soto Ayam, spiced chicken stock served with chicken, beansprouts and either potato croquette or compressed rice. Beef Rendang, chunks of geef cooked with lashings of coconut milk, spices and herds, is a perennial favourite. Malay desserts and cakes, generally rich incoconut milk, are great for those with a sweetooth.

Restaurants in Kuala Lampur that I have eaten in
http://www.saloma.com.my/
http://www.serimelayu.com/
Both offer excellent Malay buffet(Beef Rendang is a must try) and an excellent cultural shows
Sea View restaurant-Port Dickinson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Dickson an excellent meal of New England lobster served with green onions and lobster and the best seafood rice I have ever eaten.
Al Diafah Restaurant Middle Eastern
43-1 and 45-1 Jalan Radin AnumSeri Petaling Kuala Lumpur Tel No: 03 - 9059 6237
On a trip to Kuala Lumpur, Samy has decided to check out the Middle Eastern restaurant in Sri Petaling called Al Diafah,he has previously eaten there and has given the place a high marks. the restaurant is owned by Saudi father and son teamThe place is enormous and looks like inside emir's palace, basically they took over two shophouses and renovated all three floors. The ground floor is where the date and baklava shop is while the first floor is the restaurant. Although it seems to be a strange place to have a Middle Eastern restaurant, it seems their location was chosen because there is an International School nearby which is frequented by Middle Eastern expatriates.
Mendy Lamb and Rice, the dish we wanted to try out was simply delicious. It reminds me of version of Nasi Briyani but it's ten times nicer since their rice is so fluffy, fragrant and buttery without it being oily. The lamb pieces are cooked in the rice are so tender that the meat tears away easily. If you don't like lamb, they also do a chicken version on the menu.
The Hummus (made from chickpeas) is a favorite of mine which is a must order with their pita bread. The Baba Ghanoush wasn't too bad either
We also tried their mixed grill - lamb,chicken kebabs which were nice.

Their desserts are limited to a creme caramel and their fruit salad. The creme caramel is pretty good - not to sweet which is how I like it. They also serve hot date juice.
Recipies

http://www.rasamalaysia.com/
http://kuali.com/recipes/advresults.asp?c=24
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Market/7773/malaysia.html
http://www-ieee.eecs.berkeley.edu/~soh/recipe.html
http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes/malaysian
http://www.malaysianfood.net/Malayfood.html
http://homecooking.about.com/library/archive/blss89.htm Malay Oxtail Soup
http://www.yummymalaysia.net/
http://malay-recipes.blogspot.com/
http://www.indiasnacks.com/recipe/518/Malay-Curry.php Malay Curry
http://www.spicysteve.com/recipes-07-malaysia.html
http://www.newwomen.net/malayrecipes.htm
http://library.thinkquest.org/20371/mnrecipe.htm